Ahead of the four-day weekend for the Lunar New Year, the Hong Kong stock market had finished higher in three straight sessions - surging more than 1,650 points or 5 percent in that span. The Hang Seng Index now rests just above the 31,115-point plateau, and it figures to catch up on some positive sentiment on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to lower, with profit taking expected for many markets, while a few are likely to rise as they catch up on missed positive sentiment during the Lunar New Year break.
The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financials, casinos and oil and insurance companies.
For the day, the index soared 599.83 points or 1.97 percent to finish at 31,115.43 after trading between 30,816.65 and 31,145.10.
Among the actives, CNOOC surged 3.26 percent, while Ping An Insurance soared 3.21 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China spiked 1.20 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) advanced 2.79 percent, Lenovo Group jumped 1.81 percent, Galaxy Entertainment climbed 1.60 percent, Sands China picked up 1.60 percent, AIA Group gathered 1.44 percent, China Life collected 1.09 percent, BOC Hong Kong added 1.03 percent, China Mobile gained 0.68 percent, WH Group lost 0.66 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas fell 0.27 percent and New World Development was up 0.17 percent.
There is no lead from Wall Street, which was closed in observance of the Presidents Day holiday.
The European markets all fell victim to modest selling pressure and finished roughly half a percent in the red as investors took profits from recent rallies.
Crude oil prices figure to put a floor under any downside movement after showing very mild upside in electronic trading.
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